Cleaning up: workers from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority use booms to collect oil leaking from the blown out wellbore
- PTTEP rubbishes talk of Montara fire
- 'Oz should impose WA moratorium'
- New chief for NOPSA
- Fears grow for wildlife
- West Triton poised to plug Montara
- Aussie government pledges probe into Montara leak
- Montara relief well under way
- Montara legal threat 'premature'
- Relief for Montara
- West Triton nears Montara
- Rudd brands Montara slick 'appalling'
- Delay hits Montara salvage work
- PTTEP prepares to spray Montara
- PTTEP battling slick at Montara
- West Triton tow line snaps
- Montara spill prompts Canberra move
- West Triton on the move again
- APPEA backs bill to tackle Montara spill
- Leak forced evacuation from West Atlas
- Montara leak 'may take months to plug'
- Pipelay continues at Montara
- Java Constructor leaves Montara
- PTTEP works on Montara clean-up
- West Triton on its way to Montara
- Glitch delays West Triton sailaway
- Relief well for slick at Montara
WWF team weighs up Montara damage
A team of WWF Australia researchers leave Darwin today to carry out an investigation into the environmental impact of the Montara oil spill on marine life in the Timor Sea.
Dr Gilly Llewellyn, WWF Australia's conservation director, told the ABC: "There's a bit of a myth out there that an oil spill is only a disaster when it washes up on beaches.
"What we'll be looking for is types of marine wildlife, such as sea turtles, sea snakes, sea birds and any sort of whales or dolphins that might be in there."
However, she told the ABC no one knows exactly what the team will find.
"We need to have some eyes on the water, some information from scientists, ecologists, people experienced at doing wildlife surveys of what creatures are at risk in the area that's been affected," she said.
A spokesman for the federal Environment Department said it has already carried out preliminary tests on fish collected in the vicinity of the spill and no visible oil contamination was detected.
Further toxicology testing of the fish is under way, but those results will not be available for at least a fortnight.